Wicked Truth

by Mae Doyle

  Or like I was never there.

  They probably only left the sheet in the door so that I wouldn’t be able to tell right away that something was wrong. Sinking to the floor, I put one hand over my chest, feeling my heart pound. All of my things were gone. Everything that I owned, including my computer, my clothes, my homework for the upcoming week – all gone.

  It made no sense, but at the same time, I knew exactly why the harpies had done it. If they could make me feel unwelcome enough than they probably thought that they could force me out.

  “I love what you’ve done with the place. It really fits the aesthetic you deserve. Blank. Empty. You know that you don’t belong here.” Amelia was leaning in my doorframe checking her nails when I slowly turned around to look at her.

  “Where’s my stuff, Amelia?” My teeth were gritted and I was digging my nails into my palms to try to stay calm and focused. If she knew how much she upset me then I knew that she would just continue to play this game. She was a cat and I was the mouse.

  “Your shit, you mean? We put it where shit goes, Rose. Why don’t you go find it like the little rat that you are? Maybe you’d be more comfortable living there than in this nice dorm where you don’t belong.”

  The dumpster. I shook my head. “And let you think that you won? Not a chance, Amelia. You and I both know that I’m the better person here.”

  She tossed her head and laughed. “Sure, you tell yourself that, loser. But I’m the only one here who doesn’t have all of my stuff thrown out because people hate her. So there’s that.” She shrugged and turned to go but then looked back at me over her shoulder. “Good luck getting to it. It’s trash day, you know.”

  No, I didn’t know. Even though my muscles were screaming for me to run, I waited until she left my room before running out and down the hall. She was talking to a group of harpies a few doors down, so I ran the other way, not wanting to get stopped.

  I had to get to the dumpster before my stuff was thrown out for real. I could handle pulling it out of the top of the dumpster, but if it got taken to the dump? Then I was screwed.

  Back down the stairs I went, urging my legs to move faster. I hit the ground running and tore around the back of the building, breathing hard. The dumpster was behind the dining hall, which made it really easy for the chef to dump all of his leftovers in it. Turning the corner to the back of the school, I skidded to a stop.

  My bed and dressed hadn’t made it into the dumpster, but someone had cut my mattress and bits of fluff and stuffing were pouring out of it. Everything else was piled in the dumpster and there was a huge trash truck rumbling towards it.

  “Stop!” I screamed as loud as I could and took off towards the dumpster, waving my arms above my head. There was a terrible stitch in my side but I ignored it as I closed the gap to the truck. “Don’t take my stuff!”

  The driver saw me and waved before turning and backing up to the dumpster. I had to get there before he got the dumpster lifted or all of my belongings were going to tumble into the back of the truck and I’d never get them out. He lowered the back prongs and slid them under the dumpster as I ran up and banged on his window.

  “Don’t lift the dumpster!” I screamed, pounding the glass. “My stuff is in there!”

  He stopped the lift and rolled the window down a crack. Poor guy didn’t look much older than I was and had a terrified look on his face. “What’s wrong, miss?”

  “My stuff.” I paused, grabbing my side and painting while I pointed. “All of my stuff is in the dumpster. You can’t take it because then I’ll have nothing.”

  He looked nervously in his rear-view mirror at the dumpster. “It’s in the dumpster? Are you sure?”

  I nodded, feeling a bit of relief. Okay, he was listening. That meant that maybe I’d be able to convince him to stop the truck. Hell, he may even help me get all of my things out of the dumpster before he drove off, but he shook his head and I felt my stomach drop.

  “I can’t let you get into the dumpster to get your stuff out.”

  “What? Of course you can. Why wouldn’t you?” The fact that he could even consider not letting me have my things when they were just a few feet away in the back of his truck almost made me laugh. Almost.

  He looked nervous and bit his lower lip before answering. “Because it’s no longer your property once it’s in the dumpster. Besides that, it would be a health hazard, and there’s no way that Mr. Taylor would let me allow you to get into the dumpster to take anything out. So, no, you can’t have it. You have to leave.”

  “No.” The word left my mouth in a burst of energy. “No, you have to let me have my things.”

  “I can’t. I’m sorry.” He rolled up the window and looked straight ahead, ignoring me even when I started to pound on his window again.

  “Stop! Don’t do it!” I watched in horror as he reached for a lever by his side and pulled it. There was a horrible wrenching noise behind me as the dumpster started to lift into the air. Even though I knew that I had lost and should walk away, I threw myself off of the running board by his window and ran back to the dumpster.

  It was stupid, and I knew it, but I had to try. I had to get in there and see if I could salvage anything so that I didn’t have an empty room. The only things that I still had were the clothes that I was wearing. The dumpster was being lifted, but I grabbed the side of it and pulled up right as it completely left the ground. It wobbled for a moment and then stabilized as I hung on it, my fingers aching as they gripped the metal.

  Just a big pull-up and I’d be inside the dumpster. I knew that it was stupid and I could feel the movement of the dumpster as the driver began to tilt it, but I couldn’t force myself down. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and got ready to pull, but before I could do anything, strong arms wrapped around me and yanked me back.

  “Let me go!” I had no idea who was pulling me down from the dumpster, but whoever it was was stronger than me and wasn’t about to let me go. “My things are in there! Let me go!” I kicked backwards and was rewarded with a groan, but the person didn’t let me go until my feet were on the ground.

  Angry, I whipped around to see who stopped me and came face-to-face with the rogues. Brett was rubbing his shin where I’d kicked him, so he must have been the one to pull me off of the dumpster.

  “What are you thinking?!” I screamed so loudly that I was sure the driver could hear me, but he didn’t stop the truck. “Why would you stop me from getting in there?!”

  “So you wouldn’t die, Rose!” Kaleb got in my face and yelled right back. His green eyes were darker and murkier than I’d seen before and I realized that he was really angry. “Because you were about to get crushed to death in the back of the trash truck and you didn’t seem to give a shit!”

  “And you do?” My voice was lower now, but just as angry. Crossing my arms across my chest, I glared at the three of them. “You guys give a shit about me? You probably only told me to leave my room so that the harpies would have full access to my stuff, right? Is that what happened?”

  “Geez, Rosita, you think that we’d do that?” I turned to look at Jackie when he spoke. He looked tired. Defeated. “You think that we wanted this to happen to you?”

  I waved my arm behind me as the dumpster tipped over and all of my belongings fell with a loud crash into the trash truck. “I don’t know, guys, you tell me. You sure showed up at just the right time to watch everything!”

  “To save you.” Brett stood up and walked up to me, taking me by the shoulders. He didn’t shake me, but he held me firmly, his strong fingers digging into my skin. “We showed up at just the right time to save you, Rose, because none of us could bear the thought of what would happen if you got crushed in that truck.”

  I was about to argue with him and tell him that he was full of shit when he bent his head, his lips crushing mine. Brett kissed me hard, like he needed me, like he was drowning and I was the only thing that would keep him alive. His hands slipped from my shoulders
and he wrapped them in my hair, holding me close to him.

  I kissed him back.

  All of the anger that I’d felt just a moment ago flooded away as he pulled me to him, his strong body giving me the support that I was craving and unable to find. When he finally stepped back, my mouth was burning and my core ached for more from him.

  I opened my mouth to say something to him, but he turned away. “Let’s get her bed at least,” he told Jackie and Kaleb.

  Jackie looked at me before turning to lift the bed with the other rogues. His eyes burned into mine, but I couldn’t tell what the look meant. I couldn’t tell anything about what he felt or was thinking.

  Before I could wonder too much, they were gone, the three of them carrying my bed back to my room. I sat down on the ground next to my dresser, hoping they would come back for it. The trash guy glanced once at me but then pulled away, his truck packed full of everything I had.

  Chapter 16

  I spent the rest of the afternoon hiding in my room. The rogues had brought my bed and my dresser up to my space, but I’d avoided talking to them and – more importantly – I’d avoided kissing any of them.

  I felt like I deserved a medal or something for that, especially since my lips burned all afternoon with Brett’s touch. How could I go from hating the rogues and being terrified of them to suddenly kissing not just one, but all of them?

  And how could it be that I wanted to keep kissing them? All of them?

  It made no sense and the worst part was that I didn’t have any friends I could talk to about it since Maggie and Harper only spoke to me long enough to call me a gutter rat in order to warn me that the harpies were up to something.

  Sighing, I stretched out on my bed. I was hungry but there wasn’t any way that I wanted to go down to dinner. Not that I had anything worth stealing any longer, but I didn’t want to have to look Amelia and the harpies in the face.

  Or Brett.

  I rolled over right as a movement from my door caught my eye. My sheet twitched open and Kaleb popped his head in. Speak of the devil.

  “Yeah, she’s in here.” He leaned behind him to tell that to someone and then walked into my room, carrying a box. My eyes widened as he put the box down on the floor, but I didn’t say anything to him.

  I know that they told me that they weren’t in on the harpies taking all of my things, but it was still hard for me to believe that they didn’t have anything to do with it. I wanted to believe it, but I was scared.

  Brett and Jackie followed him in, each carrying a huge box. They dropped them on the floor next to Kaleb’s and then stood looking at me. For a moment, none of us spoke, but I finally broke first.

  “What’s all of this?” I eyed the boxes suspiciously, wondering what in the world could be in them.

  “We brought you some things that you’ll need this week. No homework, unfortunately, but I think that Brett managed to even get you an old laptop, right?” Jackie ran his hand through his hair and looked at me. “I found you some clothes. Size 4?”

  I nodded and slid off of the bed, bending down to lift the lid off of the box closest to him. It was stuffed not only with jackets and skirts that I would have to wear for classes but also jeans and tight tank tops. I held one up and raised an eyebrow at him. “You have got to be kidding. You think that this is something I’m going to want to wear?”

  He smiled sheepishly at me and then shrugged. “You can’t blame me for trying. In fact, I think that it will look really good on you.”

  Good on me? It was going to show off all of my curves. I hesitated and then tossed it on the bed behind me and then looked at Brett.

  He stepped forward. “Mine? Books, mostly. School supplies that you’ll need. And the laptop, of course.”

  I lifted the lid and pulled out a nice laptop. There was no way that this was some hand-me-down. In fact, it was way nicer than any laptop that I’d ever used before. “Where did you find this as a used laptop?” I turned it over in my hands before putting it on my dresser. “It looks brand new.”

  He signed. “Just accept the laptop, okay, Rose? You don’t have to turn this into a big deal.”

  It was a big deal. “It is a big deal,” I countered, turning back to face him. “Where did you get it? It’s really nice.”

  “Rose.” His voice was low, a warning, but I wasn’t interested in heeding it. I was just kissing him outside a few hours ago, and now he suddenly was using a dad tone on me. I wasn’t having it.

  “Brett. What’s up with the laptop?”

  Jackie stepped forward, tucking a big of hair behind my ear. “Rosita,” he whispered, bending down so that his lips brushed my ear and his breath was hot on my skin, “drop it. Just accept that we’re all trying to help you. You don’t have a lot of friends at Taylor Prep right now, and I’d suggest that you let us be our friends, okay?”

  He was right, and I knew that he was right, but that didn’t make the pit in my stomach feel any better. “Okay,” I told him, reaching out to hold onto his arm. He was so close to me, so warm and protective, and I didn’t want to lose that feeling.

  It had been a while since I had someone really care for me and want to take care of me, and I didn’t want him to step back, even if that meant holding onto someone that I wasn’t sure I could really trust. Taking a deep breath, I let his light cotton scent play around me. It was refreshing and clean and made me feel like I was safe, even though I knew that that wasn’t totally true.

  “He brushed his lips across my cheek and then kissed my forehead before pulling back from me. My arms fell down by my sides and I looked at him, taking a deep breath before speaking. “What’s in your box, Kaleb?”

  Kaleb grinned and lifted the lid for me. I didn’t know what to expect, especially since Jackie had brought me clothes and Brett brought me everything I needed for classes. But, once I thought about it, it kinda made sense. Ripping my eyes away from the box, I looked up and smiled at Kaleb.

  “I should have known that this would come from you.” I grinned at him as I looked into the box. Not only was there everything that I would need to do my hair, including a hair dryer, styling gel, and a curling iron, but he’d managed to find makeup for me. Sitting on the very top was a smaller box, and when I opened it I was surprised to find a bottle of perfume.

  Very expensive perfume. I raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled.

  “You always lean really close and smell me so I thought that you would like something that smells good, too. Try it.”

  I hesitated then spritzed myself, breathing deeply as I was covered in a warm and spicy scent. It was heavenly and actually helped some of the stress of the day melt away. Did it fix everything? Not at all.

  But it made me feel like a person again, and I knew that I should be grateful for that.

  “There’s some jewelry in there too, in the bottom.” He shifted his feet like he was nervous and smiled at me. “I think that you’ll like it. We all picked it out.”

  I had to resist the temptation to immediately start digging through the box to see what jewelry they found for me. The guys all had impeccable taste, and I was sure that it would be incredible. But I could do that later, when they were all gone. Right now, I had more important things to worry about.

  “So, why did you guys do this for me? You didn’t have to, you know.” I stood up from my position on the floor and looked at each of them in turn, but they didn’t answer. “Seriously, you guys. People here hate me. You’re probably putting yourselves at risk if people think that you’re on my side.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but I wouldn’t put it past the kids at Taylor Prep. This school was more messed up than I realized, and I didn’t want anyone putting themselves in harm’s way on my behalf.

  Brett was the first to speak, like I knew he would be. “We don’t have to do anything, Rose, but you’re different. You’re special.”

  Different? Special? Those were strong words coming from someone who hadn’t minded wh
en Amelia beat me up and who hadn’t blinked twice when he killed my cat when we were younger.

  I scoffed. “Yeah, right. I don’t know why you guys are doing this or why you think that I’m so special, but it’s a little exhausting, you know?”

  Kaleb reached out and took my hand, running his thumb across the back. The motion and the touch from his skin gave me goosebumps and I shivered, but I didn’t pull away. I didn’t think that I could pull away, not when I wanted him to reach out and hug me. Not when I wanted them all to hug me.

  “You’re special because you’re the first person at Taylor Prep who hasn’t just fallen all over themselves to get the harpies to like you. You’re talented and smart and funny, Rose, and you’re honestly like a breath of fresh air.” Kaleb’s voice was calm and reassuring

  Someone took my other hand and I looked up in surprise to see Jackie holding it. “We messed up bad, Rose. We thought that just because the council said that you had to leave that we needed to make it happen, but we changed. We talked about it and we changed.”

  “You mean that you three decided that I can stay? Is that what you mean?” I knew that I should have been happy that they had changed their minds about how they were going to treat me, but it was still unnerving to think that they could change so quickly. On a whim.

  Brett nodded. “Listen, Rose, you don’t have anyone here at Taylor Prep to protect you, and the harpies are only going to get worse.” He sighed and blew air out of his lips before continuing. “And it’s not just the harpies. Everyone is going to start getting worse, so you need someone on your side. You need us.”

  I needed them.

  The most frustrating thing was that none of them knew just how true that statement was. I hadn’t realized it at first, but the longer I was at Taylor Prep and the more I got to know them little by little, I realized that this was true.

  I needed the rogues.

  They didn’t need me. They could have anyone and anything at Taylor Prep, but for some reason, they had decided that I was worth their time. I wasn’t sure what it was about me that had drawn them to me, but right now I didn’t care enough to try to figure that out.